HANNAH STORM

ESPN; BRAINSTORMIN PRODUCTIONS; HANNAH STORM FOUNDATION

Hannah Storm is an award-winning journalist, producer and director, a pioneer in the field of sports broadcasting for women, an advocate for children’s issues, and a published author. She joined ESPN in 2008 and now serves as an anchor and host for prime time specials, SportsCenter on the Road, the ESPYs and more.

In addition to anchoring various editions of SportsCenter, Storm has co-hosted many of the network’s marquee events including: Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the NBA Finals, the New York Marathon, Veteran’s Day, the Super Bowl, the NCAA College Football Playoff National Championship and the Rose Parade on ABC.

Storm also has conducted sit-down interviews with many prominent figures in the sports world from the NBA, NFL, NASCAR, MLB, college football and many other sports both in prime-time specials and on SportsCenter. In 2012 Storm co-anchored daredevil Nik Wallenda’s unprecedented live Niagara Falls tightrope walk for ABC News. She has also served as a correspondent for ABC’s 20/20, where she’s done pieces with Shark Tank stars Robert Herjavec and Kevin O’Leary.

Prior to ESPN, Storm handled premier events during her time at NBC Sports (2002-2007) and CNN (1989-1992), where she was the first female host of CNN Sports Tonight.
At NBC Sports, in addition to hosting four Olympics and the “NBA on NBC,” Storm became the first woman in American television history to solo host a broadcast network’s sports series when she hosted NBC’s Major League Baseball coverage, including three World Series. In 1997, Storm also became the first play-by-play announcer ever for the WNBA.
Taking a break from sports broadcasting, Storm spent five years (2002-2007) at CBS News as host of “The Early Show,” covering numerous major news events ranging from the 2004 Presidential election to the Iraqi War and Hurricane Katrina. While at CBS News, Storm also hosted shows for the award-winning CBS newsmagazine, “48 Hours” and served as co-host for the network’s coverage of the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Following a passion to direct and produce films, in 2008 Storm created Brainstormin’ Productions. She has produced, executive produced and directed several projects for ESPN and espnW including: Unmatched, for ESPN’s Peabody Award-winning “30 for 30” film series; Shaq & Dale, for the SEC Network/ESPN/ABC; Love & Payne, the inaugural espnW “Nine for IX” series short film; Swoopes, for ESPN’s award-winning “Nine for IX” series; and Moving the Goal, for espnW’s “HERoics” series, part of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage. Storm has also produced branded content for ESPN, espnW, and ESPN.com including: Journeys & Victories; Beyond Reason; Stories of Will; The Drive series; and The Journey series.

For her work, Storm received the 2013 Gracie Award® for Outstanding Web Site – Information/Entertainment for the Payge McMahon story, and the 2012 Gracie Award® for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Producer–Entertainment for the video “Iraq Vet takes on Mount Kilimanjaro,” both part of Journeys & Victories. Storm also was the recipient the 2011 Gracie Award® for Outstanding Producer-News/Non-fiction for Unmatched.

In addition to the Gracie Awards® Storm received for her work through Brainstormin’ Productions, she has been the recipient of two others: 2005 – Outstanding Anchor, News for her work on CBS News; and 2000 – Pioneering work as a female in the world of sports broadcasting for her work on NBC Sports. In 2017, The Marist College Center for Sports Communication presented Storm with its second Lifetime Excellence in Sports Communication Award. Storm was also named to AdWeek’s “30 Most Powerful Women in Sports” in 2016 and 2017, Family Circle’s “Most Influential Moms” list in 2015, and The Paley Center for Media’s “She Made It, Women Creating Television and Radio” Hall-of-Fame.
Born with a port wine stain underneath her left eye, Storm has become an advocate for children and parents of children suffering from debilitating and disfiguring vascular birthmarks. In 2008 she founded the Hannah Storm Foundation to raise awareness, fund treatment and provide educational information for vascular malformations. To date, children from the United States, China, the Republic of Georgia and Slovenia have received surgery funding through her foundation.
Storm has penned two books: “Notre Dame Inspirations,” and “Go Girl!: Raising Healthy, Confident and Successful Daughters through Sports.” For her work as an author, Literacy Advance of Houston honored her as a Champion of Literacy. She has also contributed to a variety of other books and written extensively for several magazines, including Cosmopolitan, Nick Jr., Family Circle, Child and Notre Dame Magazine.
Storm is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the mother of three daughters with her husband, Dan Hicks of NBC Sports.